Thursday 29 October 2009

A WEEKEND AT THE COAST



After baking hundreds of wedding cakes I took my family and we headed North!  My parents have a lovely holiday house, a Victorian Town house in Morcambe and we had a fantastic few days break.
They have decorated it beautifully and I feel like I'm living inside Coast Magasine when I'm there.







 


 

Tuesday 27 October 2009

AUTUMN WEDDING


This is my first ever wedding cake.  It was for an old family friend Tim and his lovely fiancee (now wife) Naomi.
The illustrations are based on the botanical drawings of  'An Edwardian Country Lady'.  They had seen my Spring Cake and wanted an Autumn version.
It was a 6" vanilla cutting cake with 136 cupcakes.



I was really happy with the result.


Wednesday 21 October 2009

SMASHING PUMPKINS!



This is a fantastic autumn project for your little ones! A paper mache pumpkin which can also be used as a treat holder.   My own darlings are 3 and 5 and really threw themselves into it! It is really easy to make but does require some drying time.  It took us about two weeks from start to finish (but that wasn't every day, I wanted to hold their interest.)



1. Blow up a balloon, don't blow it up all the way as you want more of a round shape.  I then squished it a bit in my hands to make it even more round.  Tape down the knot.



2. Make up your paste by mixing 1 parts flour to 2 parts water.  You want a nice consistancy not too runny and well mixed so there are no lumps.
3. Then start stripping.....the newspaper!  Put the strips in the mixture and as you bring them out run your fingers down them so you get rid of any excess paste.
I found it helpful to stand the balloons up on old yogurt pots so they didn't wibble wobble everywhere.
You need at least three layers and let each layer dry completely before applying the next one.  We actually needed four and I was impressed that I only had to apply the last layer, normally I end up at the table doing craft projects while the kidlets run around screeching!

 

4. Scrunch up a few strips of newspaper and roll them in your hands until they come together in a sausage shape, then put on the top of the pumpkin to make the stalk.  Take another few strips and place them around the stalk to anchor it to the main body.



5. With a pen make a mark about one third down frm the top of the pumpkin and another mark about 2cm below that. Do the same on the other side.
6. Then with a craft knife cut around the top of the pumpkin, about two thirds up, inbetween the upper and lower marks.

 


7. Using a hole punch, put holes in the lid on either side and two holes in the main body where you made your mark.  If the paper mache is too thick to go in to the hole punch use a braddle or knitting needle.



8. Paint your pumpkin.  We used acrylic paint and I mixed burnt orange with gold to give a slight pearlescent sheen.  We painted the inside too.  I mixed a bit of the gold with the green for the stalk.  We put a couple of coats of paint on to cover the newspaper, and as excitment was mounting and patience running out I used a hairdrier to speed up the drying time. Then like everything else in our house it was given a liberal sprinkling of glitter! 
9. Finally I threaded a ribbon through the holes to make a perfect treat holder.



Saturday 17 October 2009

Friday 9 October 2009

AND NOW THE MAKING!


This is one half of a pair of curtains I made for my daughter when she moved to her "big" room.  The Japanese Kuma Bear is sitting on a quilt made by my Mum for me when I was little, it is in need of desperate repair!




I drew a template of various sized butterflies and then 'bondawebbed' them onto the curtains.
I zigzagged stiched them on my machine to stop them falling off (or being picked off by little hands!) and also to add their antenae.

 

I limited the pallette to mostly greens and pinks, my fav colour combo.  I was very proud of my acheivement especially as I was 8 months pregnant at the time and crawling around on the floor to place the butterflies wasn't the easiest thing in the world!

Tuesday 6 October 2009

FIRST BLOG EVER



This is a gingerbread bird house I made for the Brighton open house exhibition.I painted the details on with food colours. I am in the process of gathering inspiration for a Christmas version.  Watch this space.